PowerHunt, the company that has made off-grid living practical for everyone, has developed an innovative, expandable battery system that can give consumers energy independence in a variety of scenarios, from backwoods camping to power outages. To support this new eco-conscious and adaptable power solution, PowerHunt has launched a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising $250,000. More details are available on the campaign page at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/powerhunt/cortex-intelligent-rugged-off-grid-power-storage?ref=nav_search.

“We’ve designed the most efficient and smartest battery of its kind,” says Alex Liu, president of PowerHunt, “by combining the latest in lithium-ion rechargeable battery technology with a built-in management system to maximize efficiency. Our vision is to give people an end-to-end DC solution that’s tremendously more efficient than any other system available today. This is especially practical for those looking into tiny homes, which can make the choice to downsize easier.”

The Cortex system is designed to work seamlessly with all PowerHunt appliances, which run off DC power. Therefore, the system doesn’t need an inverter to transform DC to AC power. Inverters are inefficient by nature, and in fact they become even more inefficient as the load decreases. Moreover, inverter pricing is unpredictable, and using a subpar unit, or the wrong unit for the application, can damage both the appliance and the battery. Cortex avoids all those hassles.

There are multiple ways to charge the batteries inside Cortex. When camping, for instance, one or more 100w solar panels are a good option. Other charging methods include a 110-240V AC plugin for power directly from the grid, as well as 12V DC hookup for recharging directly from another battery sources.

The Cortex base model consists of a 340Wh lithium-ion battery pack. Two additional packs can be added to the unit when more power is required. An expansion pack brings the total number of batteries to five, which is sufficient to run multiple appliances, even space heaters and coolers. Cortex also includes four USB ports for charging mobile devices.

PowerHunt designed Cortex to be more than an off-grid power source. The system comes with a host of smart, added features intended to maximize safety and efficiency. An auto-scheduler lets users control when each port powers on and off. The Cortex system’s display includes a budgeting screen showing how long each PowerHunt appliance can operate, based on available power. Finally, the system provides long-term battery health updates and charge notifications.

The Cortex Kickstarter campaign concludes on April 16. Pledges of $899 will receive a Cortex unit with one battery pack, a $200 discount on the anticipated retail prices. For a pledge of $1,649, backers receive a Cortex and three battery packs, coffee maker, multi cooker, 24-inch LCD TV and more. PowerHunt expects to begin delivering these rewards in November 2017.